Grandfather
by Dartz-IRL
Summary: The Grandfather Paradox: If one were to travel back in time, and murder ones own grandfather, how could one exist to travel back in time in the first place? Chapter 3: Deja Vu Haven't we met somewhere before?
1. Tempus Fugit

Grandfather

The Grandfather's Paradox: If one were to go back in time, and kill one's own grandfather, how could one exist to go back in time in the first place?

Written by Dartz  
Preread by Himonky.

I don't own Evangelion, someone else does.  
Stuff might be mentioned that's copyright  
I don't own it either  
It's just a bit of fun anyway

**I...I**

By Shinji's standards, it had been an ordinary Wednesday, one among many for the fourteen year old boy. School had ended on a half day, as it always did. A sync test had been scheduled to fill the remaining three hours, as it always was.

He enjoyed sync tests.

It was strange really. He detested actually piloting the thing, but synchronisation was a different matter. For three hours, he could allow himself to drift away from the troubles of life. He could switch the world off and relax inside his own mind.

He never could explain why, he just felt at perfect ease sitting there, at the core of a monster that might've given Lovecraft nightmares.

The EVA was a warm duvet, the kind his mind just wanted to curl up into and use to block out the chill winter of reality. Of course, there was always something that had to drag him back, like a stray foot popping out from beneath the sheet.

This foot went by the name of Ritsuko Akagi, her voice crackling and fizzing through the intercom.

"Good work you three. Asuka, you scored a Seventy-Six, Shinji; Seventy-Two and Rei; Fifty-Two"

For an instant, he might've hated her for it.

"Roger," he answered meekly.

"Well Shinji, looks like you'll be playing backup for another week," Asuka voice buzzed in his ear like a mosquito.

"Yes Asuka," he sighed, blowing bubbles in the LCL a the plug system went dark.

And now for the part he hated. Wretching spent connect-liquid from his body was a fact of life, but a disgusting one. His belly and lungs were full of the bloody fluid, and all of it had to be drained, or he'd drown in open air.

Shinji was still dripping wet with the stuff, the sharp '_plip-plip'_ of the drips beating out his walking step. The teenager wasn't sure if it was by accident or design that they followed his natural cadence.

He pondered on that question for a moment, then hurried towards the communal changing room, though, him being the only male on the Piloting team, he pretty much had it to himself.

"_Personnel in sections 31-Baker through 33-Golf please be advised the second circle route is out of commission due to vehicle accident. We apologise any inconvenience caused because of this."_

Just another tannoy announcement, it wasn't anything that affected him anyway.

The voice seemed oddly distant from him somehow. Shinji didn't know how or why, it just seemed to be further away than it was. Maybe just a broken speaker, he theorised

He stopped, and listened harder.

Still, there were the drips from his body, tapping rhythmically against the concrete floor. Yet, they were dulled somehow, like there were pillows over his ears.

The air itself seemed heavy, somehow denser. His lungs heaved, yet, he still felt as if he was about to suffocate.

Slowly, he moved forward, reasoning that it would be best just to keep going. Still, something caused the skin on his back to prickle. It felt as if someone had unleashed a hundred thousand little ants beneath his skintight plugsuit, and he could feel each one of their legs stickling across his shoulders.

His gut clenched, an invisible hand wringing it dry like a dirty dishcloth. All the old LCL surged back into his mouth, a gurgling, chummy mixture of blood and rice.

A sudden chill overtook him, and the boy set of running, fear taking a resolute hold. He just ran. His mind raced with questions as he swallowed great gulps of leaden air. He was well past trying to figure out was happened, he just wanted a way out of it. The noise of world around him dropped away, swallowed by whatever great and evil beast was chasing him. The panicked youth was aware of his footsteps only from the brief shocks rising through his body.

His heartbeat pulsed in his ears, some great thunderous drumbeat pounding into his skull, the rhythm rising to a rolling crescendo that filled every hollow space in his frame with the same resonating frequency. His breath roared like a chorus of jet engines, a hundred 747's in his brain taking off at full throttle at the same time.

He stopped, the pressure closing in around him, crushing him, constricting him. The colours of the world washed out, fading to grey, then a deadly white, swallowed by the monster haunting him. It's hand gripped, a crushing death grip the squeezed the air like toothpaste from his lungs. He screamed, screwing his eyes shut and hoping that it would just end soon.

And then...

for an infinite moment...

nothing...

Before the world imploded...

and everything felt normal again.

Shinji was breathing, quivering, panicked breaths yes, but still, he was alive. It was more than he could possibly have hoped for.

Slowly, he cracked open his eyes, to be met by a curiously darkened corridor. The concrete walls had taken on a navy blue hue, lit only by light scatter from a single high intensity bulb some distance away.

It was far enough, that if he was casting a shadow, the child couldn't see it.

Terrified, Shinji glanced around him.

What just happened?

Angel?

"Why hasn't there been an alarm?"

Maybe the power could be out, damage to the system.

Then, wouldn't there be somebody running around with a loudspeaker, or some sort of activity.

What in the name of God was happening?

Shivering, yet his body was somehow burning hot, the boys gaze darted between a nondescript door beside him to his left, and some construction equipment left idle a few yards ahead.

There was nobody around.

He was alone.

A strobing flash of light caught his eye, the sweep of a nearby torch illuminating a short section of bare concrete for a millisecond.

Shinji could've almost jumped for joy, a cooling wave of relief crashing over him

_Somebody_ was nearby. Somebody who could help him, somebody who could tell him what was going on.

"Hey!" he called out. "I'm here,"

He could hear footsteps, approaching quickly, the sharp '_clap-clap_' of hard soled shoes approaching quickly. The light turned a corner ahead of him, dazzling Shinji for a moment.

"Who are you?" a voice attached to the light asked, it's tone mildly interrogative.

Shinji fought against the light, squinting to keep it from burning through his eyes. He blinked, trying to clear the upwelling of tears, trying to see more than just the harsh white splash hiding the person beyond.

Through tear blurred eyes, he could just about make out the silhouette of a man standing behind it.

"Ikari Shinji," he said.

He was answered by an angry growl.

"Say that again."

"Ikari Shinji," he repeated, a little confused.

"Okay kid, who are you really, and what the fuck are you doing down here?" the torch man spat.

It came like a verbal brick to the skull.

"What?" Shinji gasped.

What had he done to deserve that? Okay, he _knew_ he probably did deserve it somehow, but still, he'd liked to have know why? Was it his own fault, what had just happened? Was he about to to be punished for it?

He definitely wasn't lying, though this person blasting hot light into his face seemed to think otherwise. Shinji broke contact with it, whimpering as he stared at his feet. Anger bubbled forth, but his fist clenched hard and caught it. He wanted to yell back, but it caught in his throat, a sickened lump nesting where his voicebox was.

It wouldn't be right. It'd just make things worse to get angry.

The boy sniffed. It didn't seemed fair. No, it wasn't fair at all. He didn't deserve this, why did this always happen to him? Why did people always treat him like this?

He was good, he was nice to people, why did they never be nice to him?

"Who the hell are you kid?" torch man roared, in a thunderous, overtime-frustrated voice that resonated off the walls, amplifying itself into some looming sonic monster towering menacingly over the child "Because I _know_ you ain't the chief's boy."

"Ikari Shinji!" he screamed, before he even realised he had. "I'm Ikari Shinji,"

A pregnant silence, and Shinji braced himself. He still yelped as a hand reached out and gripped his right arm, _hard_, before wrenching it painfully around into a half-nelson. Shinji squirmed, stretching the tendons in his shoulder, straining them taught like guitar strings, to the point where he could almost imagine them twanging as they snapped.

"Hey," he squealed.

And, shameful as it was, he knew he squealed. His left arm was dragged, and he felt the cold steel handcuffs ratchet tightly shut.

"I told you the truth," he whined. "I told you the truth. Why are you doing this? I told you you he truth!"

His voice echoed along the passage.

"You are under arrest," Torch man said flatly, or perhaps, with a small hint of arrogant self satisfaction, "For violation of U.N.S.C. Order K dash Two-Seven-Four, violation of secured GEHIRN research facilities."

A claustrophobic darkness covered the boys head once more, as he was blinded by a black fabric bag.

"GEHIRN?" Shinji parroted, mouth on autopilot.

He was roughly nudged forward, and set walking.

"But I don't even know what that is!" he shouted, redfaced with tears welling up in his eyes. "I just..." Shinji hiccuped..." I just finished a sync test and was..."

He was interrupted by something hard striking him in the back.

"Do I really look like I give a fuck?"

Shinji though, didn't answer. He was crying now, sniffing, coughing, tears streaming down his cheeks in what he was sure was a pathetic, childish display.

It's just like the bicycle, he thought, nobody believed me then, nobody ever believes me when I tell the truth..

It was at that moment, he resigned himself to his fate

His breath stank of blood.

He sniffed.

He just wanted this to end.

He just wanted to go home to Misato, Asuka, and Pen-Pen.

Instead, he was thrown head first into the thick black void of a detention cell, the tacky plastic of his plugsuit squeaking as it slid across the floor. The door slammed shut with a permanent sounding metallic drumbeat, and he was once again alone.

The boy just curled despairingly up against the rough concrete wall, and closed his eyes, hoping beyond all sane hope that it really was just some fucked up nightmare, that he could wake up in his own warm bed.

Kensuke would laugh when told about it tomorrow, yeah, definitely he would.

**I...I**

It may have been a day later, possibly two, Shinji couldn't tell. His body had no frame of reference to tell. He hadn't slept, a low white noise draft foiling any attempt at escape back into his dream, the constant low level artificial light serving only to sap whatever remaining energy he had left.

"Pilot Ikari Shinji, United Nations NERV, C dash Three-One," Shinji said, eyes cast low onto his cuffed hands. They were rested on a simple wooden table, but the heavy steel shackles still dragged on his wrists.

Uncomfortable in prison issue industrial grey overalls, he shifted on the hard plastic chair. Hell, he even doubted if it deserved to be called a chair it was so uncomfortable.

"Now kid, we both know that's not your real name." His interrogator said in a soft voice. "So look, why don't you just tell us who you are, okay? Nobody will get angry with you if you do,"

Shinji looked up at him for a moment, balding somewhat, and wearing dark, concealing sunglasses and a pristine salaryman's office suite. He spoke in warm, kind tones, as if he was Shinji's best friend in the world.

It was a false kindness, something Shinji knew well.

"Pilot Ikari Shinji, United Nations NERV, C dash Three-One."

The boy knew he wouldn't be believed, but he still kept saying the same thing. He knew even a fake name would buy him a reprieve, however short, but for some demented reason he could not bring himself to say it. Lord knows, he'd suffered enough for the truth in the past. He'd told the truth about that old bicycle, but nobody'd believed him then. Now, they wouldn't even believe his name.

"Alright," The interrogator sighed, reaching for something beneath the table.

A flash of fear clenched Shinji's chest, but it was quickly drowned by a sea of resigned apathy. Whatever this man was going to do, he was going to do it regardless of whatever Shinji said.

He took a plastic cup, and bottle of sparkling orange soda, then poured Shinji a drink. It sparkled and fizzed enticingly, the boys mouth instantly dessicated by its sweet liquid allure.

"All you have to do kid, is give me a name, and I'll uncuff you, and let you have the entire bottle,"

Ryoji Kaji, that would be a good name to give, wouldn't it? He could be Kaji for a few minutes, at least until he downed the bottle. The boy hadn't eaten anything since some time before he'd arrived, and his stomach growled hungrily at the sight of the bubbling pop.

He opened his mouth.

"Ry..Ikari Shinji," he said.

He couldn't lie. Some suicidally insane slice of his conscious screamed at him, demanding he tell the truth. He just didn't want to get caught in a lie. If this was how badly he was treated when he told the truth, telling a lie could be fatal.

The interrogator sighed once more.

Shinji glanced up at the mirror to his right, at his own, drawn tired eyes. He really was pathetic.

Behind the mirror, he was being covertly watched by a pair of scientists, a man and a woman, both wearing white disposable labcoats.

"So chief," the woman said, "Have you told Yui yet?"

She was somewhat short, her burnt brown hair held up in curls, and was, up till that point, quietly taking notes on her clipboard.

"No, I would prefer not to worry her with this, if possible," the man answered passively.

He was clearly the elder of the two, but still clean shaven with short cut brown hair. His face was taught and his blue eyes contemplative. He nudged his milk bottle lensed glasses up on his nose, watching the tired child with curious fascination.

"I know if somebody showed up claiming to be my Ritsuko, I'd want to know about it chief."

"Hmm..." the Chief nodded, his gaze still fixed on the sombre youth.

The Doctor hummed, then noted some new behaviour of the child on her clipboard. She reached for a small microphone.

"Ota, leave the suspect for about five minutes, tell him you're letting let him think it over."

The interrogator in the room tapped his earbud three times, to show he'd heard the message, communicated the Doctor's order to the boy, and left.

Shinji, stared longingly at the cup, then looked up at the door.

The man didn't seem to be coming back.

But, maybe he could be watching?

Shinji didn't see any cameras watching him, just that silver glass mirror, and his own hungry face.

Screw it.

Shinji lunged forward, scrabbling to grab the flexible plastic cup in his cuffed hands. The metl restraints clamped hard, and held hos wrists at an odd angle, making it difficult to get a decent grip on anything. It almost seemed like they had be designed that way. The cup slipped and slid, and splashed over his hands.

How wasteful, he thought.

He lifted it, squeezing it into an oval to keep it in his hands. His grip was shaking, and the smooth cup began to slip. Desperately, he tried to grip it tighter, but all he succeeded in doing was spilling more of the orange nectar over his hands, and onto the table.

It was shortly followed by the cup, its contents sloshing in an bubbling orange slick across the tabletop, running in small rivers to the edge, where it tumbled off and pattered mockingly on the floor.

"No," Shinji whimpered.

It sat there teasingly, his reflection almost laughing at him. His stomach gurgled vacuously.

He dropped forward and began to lap it up like a dog. It was disgusting, it was degrading, it was the sweetest orange juice he'd ever tasted.

"Now I believe him," The Doctor said.

"Oh," Chief quirked an eyebrow, "Do enlighten me."

"If he was thirsty enough to lap up orange juice off a table, there's no way he could've resisted while Ota was there, he _is_ a child after all. It's pretty simple, isn't it _Gendou-kun_,"

The old man just nodded. She always called him _Gendou-kun_ when she thought she knew more than he did.

"That's a little less than your usual ironclad logic," he remarked.

"Call it woman's intuition then, but he's not lying."

Gendou nodded again.

"He does seem to believe what he is saying. I think we shouldn't be asking who he is, and instead, focus our attention on how and why he came to be where he was."

"And _who_ sent him," the doctor added.

"I believe that should be obvious," Ikari smirked, "Keel may be blind, but that doesn't mean he won't be keeping an eye on us."

"So, you think it was the committee then?"

"Of course _Naoko-chan,_ who else do we know who has the ability to brainwash a child this well?"

Naoko snorted, then looked up at the smirking man.

"I can see why you don't want to tell Yui," she said, sighing. "She would probably treat him like her own son regardless, which is likely what had been planned all along."

"Indeed," Gendou nodded, before returning his gaze to the child.

The boy slowly leaned forward, resting his chin on his laced hands.

"I can see the family resemblance already," Naoko remarked with an alto chuckle.

Gendou merely grunted.

"Perhaps a DNA sample will at least settle a part of this mystery," he suggested.

"Alright," the Doctor answered, but with a smirk that let Gendou Ikari know he wasn't being let off that easily. The chief never could quite handle it when somebody teased him, and it was a fact Dr. Naoko Akagi had quickly found she could use to her advantage.

**I...I**

Shinji didn't know how long he'd been sitting on his own. Seconds bled into minutes bled into hours. The rational part of his mind reminded him that it really couldn't have been _that_ long since the interrogator had left. But fuck rational, the world as he'd known it seemed to have gone insane, why shouldn't he join in with it.

One moment, all was well, then _something_, he wasn't sure what to call it, had happened to him, and now, he was a prisoner.

He was even beginning to question if Ikari Shinji was really his name.

Nobody else seemed to think it was.

But if it wasn't, what was?

He could only answer with the name he knew, and that name was Ikari Shinji.

Maybe they'd tell him eventually, when they realised he didn't know. Maybe they'd just give up trying to wrangle information out of him and tell them who he was.

Either that, or he was just going nuts from sitting in an Evangelion for too long.

One or the other, it didn't really matter.

And then, suddenly, there was a noise from the door, the brass tick of a bolt coming undone.

Oh God... the soda.

A spasm of fear clenched his breast, locking his breath in his lungs.

It was splashed everywhere, on the table, on his hands. They'd know what he'd done with it, and he'd be punished for it.

The door squeaked open and he whimpered, bracing himself once more for what came next.

"Good afternoon Shinji," a woman's voice said. " I am Doctor Naoko Akagi, I'm here to talk with you, if you'd like,"

Again, another one speaking in kind tones. The name 'Akagi' rung a bell somewhere in the youths mind, and he looked up at her, guiltily, like a Jack Russel puppy who'd left a surprise in the next room. His heart sank, it wasn't Ritsuko. This woman though, was a brunette, and almost old enough to be her mother, but not quite.

An older sister perhaps?

She did however wear the same or similar labcoat, and was carrying a clipboard.

And, she'd called him Shinji.

This doctor had been the first person to do so and it came as a soothing relief to the boy. Maybe he wasn't going nuts after all, maybe there was an explanation for this.

He had to be sure.

"You...you do believe me?" he questioned, his voice small enough to be swallowed by the rough concrete wall.

It still didn't seem possible.

"Yes Shinji," she nodded, taking the interrogator's seat.

He glanced longingly at the nearly-full bottle, still enticingly standing on the table.

"Of course you may," the doctor answered his unasked question, " Just let me remove your restraints,"

Gladly, Shinji offered his arms to the woman. Her hands were _so_ warm and soft. Soothing, like the touch of an Angel sent down to rescue him from this nightmare. The cuffs came off, the dropping weight seeming like the ultimate release for the boy.

"Thank you," he smiled, then snatched the bottle for himself.

Hurridly, he scrabbled to get the top off, not even bothering to put it down. It dropped and rolled across the floor, coming to rest against the far wall, by which time, Shinji was already trying to drown himself with it, swallowing great gulping mouthfuls.

"That's enough Shinji," Akagi withdrew the bottle, "You'll either poison or drown yourself, and we can't have that, can we?"

He reached for it on instinct, before the words had found a path from his ears to his brain.

"No," he said.

"Now, would you be willing to answer a few questions?"

Shinji groaned, then looked down at the stained table.

I guess, it's going to start all over again, he thought despondently.

"Do you know where you are, Shinji?" Akagi asked, her voice flat, but not interrogative.

She asked the question in a reassuring manner, and Shinji felt at ease with it. Even if he didn't know the answer, he felt he could say as much and it would be accepted. Her kindness still struck him as somewhat calculated and deliberate, a means to an end and nothing more, but still, there was something comfortable about her.

He knew she would listen to him.

"I don't..." he groaned, "I really don't know,"

Please believe me.

"You are in the secret GEHIRN underground research and development laboratory, Shinji. We are currently in a cavern deep below the surface of the Earth,"

"Sounds like the Geofront," Shinji mumbled to himself. It struck him for a moment that Misato had used a similar phrase to describe the underground base the first time he'd been down there.

Probably just a coincidence, how else could an underground base be described?

"I suppose you could call it a Geofront, if you wanted." the Doctor said. It was strange, Geofront was the name Yui had suggested for the facility. It was either a coincidence, or somebody had been watching_ really _close. She was inclined to believe the latter.

"Now Shinji," she forced herself back on track, "Since I've answered a question for you, perhaps you might answer a few for me?"

"Well, okay, I'll try,"

He didn't want to say 'yes' outright, since he really wasn't sure he'd be able to answer any questions.

"First Shinji, Are you able to tell me how you got where you were?"

Again, he groaned. He'd only said he'd try to explain, not that he'd actually be capable of answering correctly. The Doctor was sitting, staring at him almost with her envy green eyes, chew-tipped pen at the ready to note every word he said..

"I'd just finished a sync test with Unit 01, and I was heading to change out of my plugsuit, when something..." he searched for a word that could properly describe it, "..._weird_ happened, and all the lights went out, then.."

"Wait, "Akagi interrupted, "Tell about the weird feeling, what exactly did it feel like?"

How to describe it?

"Like the world imploding on top of me," the child answered after a moments thought. "It just, sort of happened."

"Good," Akagi nodded, making quick shorthand notes, "Now this 'Unit 01', can you tell me what this is?"

For a moment, Shinji wondered if maybe he shouldn't reveal classified information, before quickly deciding that it really wasn't worth trying to hide anything. It'd just take longer to get out of there.

"It's Evangelion Unit 01, it's a robot." he said.

Akagi swallowed for a moment.

In the entire world, there were maybe fifty people who knew of the existence of _the_ Evangelion. The ABHE was perhaps, an even bigger secret than the truth about the Impact.

Why would a child be told of it?

Shinji noticed the woman start when he mentioned the EVA, her skin blanching as she noted his answer.

Did I say something wrong? he thought, nervously.

"What do you know about the Evangelion?"

She almost snapped his head off.

"Uhh...It's a robot,"

"What sort?" Akagi demanded, "Do you Pilot it?"

"I...I'm it's Pilot, yes," Shinji nodded, his empty stomach tossing and tying itself in knots. "But, I don't know anything about how, I just sit in it and do what I'm told."

The more questions Naoko asked, the more Shinji told her, the more she was confused, and perhaps worried. No, she wasn't worried, worry didn't cover this, she was almost afraid of this child.

The more she delved into the well of this child's knowledge, the more afraid she became. But still, her curiosity demanded satisfaction; she had to know. She had to know about synchronisation, LCL, about Tokyo-3, about the Angels, her MAGI and finally, about the other ABHE's.

All where theories, they only existed on paper.

How a simple boy could've heard of them, she didn't know, and that's what scared her.

It was that skin crawling feeling that there was something utterly important going on, but you didn't know about it. It was that same feeling of being sat in a college exam, looking down at that paper, and realising that, despite what you though, you really didn't know the answer at all.

Or worse, that you did, and some part of your mind had decided it would be a damn good practical joke to keep it from you, just to make you sweat a little more.

Her intuition told her that there was more to this mystery child than meets the eye, some great truth hidden from her that would explain who he could know so much, and be exactly who he said he was.

The only _logical_ explanation though, that she could come close to accepting, was that Keel Lorenz had to be somehow responsible.

How she didn't know, but this _had_ to be his work.

Lorenz was the only person with the motive and capability to do something like this.

Finally, her questioning done, and with enough information and ideas to put _that_ woman in the shade for good, she took a blood sample. It could almost have been disappointing, that the child's blood had been a normal vermillion red, but still, at least a DNA test would reveal who the boy really was.

That was small comfort, that one little piece of the puzzle could be solved, even if it was just the top corner of sky in a ten-thousand piece jigsaw. Maybe, they might even be able to help the poor thing, get him a nice place to stay with a foster family.

But, until that time, it looked like the Katsuragi girl would be getting a new roommate.

**I...I**

The ending of this chapter was hard.. and far from perfect. I tried to do out the entire conversation, but it still came across as one giant, dull information dump. A good insomnia cure maybe, but a pain in the ass to read. I didn't like it at all. Eventually, I settled on something a little more efficient and quick to read through. It doesn't drag as much, but it's far from perfect.

But anyway... It could work. I just wish my dog would shut the hell up

-Dartz


	2. Positive Feedback

Grandfather

Wow... I never expected a response like _that._.. Thanks for the reviews and interest folks...I'll try not to bollock it up, but, remember, like the second album, the second chapters can be a bitch to get right.

Written by Dartz  
Preread by Himonky.

I don't own Evangelion, someone else does.  
Stuff might be mentioned that's copyright  
I don't own it either  
It's just a bit of fun anyway

I...I

Pine scented bleach.

That was the first thing Shinji became aware of. A tingling scent of industrial detergent. The next was the gentle _beep-beep-beep_ of some nearby machine, timing itself out in electronic tones. The child's own weight sank into a soft mattress, a sterile smelling pillow under his head.

His eyes crept open unwillingly, the boy not wanting to see that grey cell ceiling anymore. Harsh fluorescent white light dazzled him momentarily. He blinked to clear his vision, the ceiling above him slowly shifting into focus.

It was, quite possibly, the first time he'd ever been glad to see that beautiful 'unfamiliar' ceiling. It was the same uniform white tile pattern, with the same, inform strip lighting. Even that solitary droning fly which pucked and picked against the fluorescent strip seemed as if it had been there since his first day.

"Oh thank God," he sighed.

It was the ceiling of the NERV infirmary, he recognized it immediately.

That whole ordeal must just have been some insane nightmare. It didn't matter to him one jot that he was in a hospital bed, all that mattered was that he was safe, and home. Slowly, his mind drifted out from the shadow of nightmare-disturbed sleep, and into the soothing light of a hospital ward. Slowly, he pushed himself upright in the bed, the duck-egg sheets pooling around his waist. He glanced to his right and saw the tower of electronic equipment monitoring his vital signs, a clear line running from it to his arm, pumping little drops of liquid into him.

A name was printed on the machine.

AYANAMI. S

"What the?"

Again, Shinji blinked, then looked again to make sure.

'AYANAMI. S' it read still, having stubbornly refused to change.

Must just be a misprint, he thought. Shinji didn't want to bother over it.

"_Could Doctor Ikari please come to child services. Doctor Ikari please come to child services." _a womans voice intoned digitally.

Shinji looked at the ceiling mounted speaker, thinking he'd heard his name, then down at himself. It was then that he noticed the red rings around his wrists, the skin having been rubbed red-raw by some mysterious force. It looked, almost like he'd been wearing handcuffs.

He shuddered.

The memory of that nightmare announced itself in his consciousness with a giant mental loudspeaker, dancing and waving its arms as it screamed for his attention.

"You wore handcuffs in your nightmare!" It announced with sadistic glee. "It could've been real y'know. You still don't know how you got here, remember? It could have been real."

Could it have?

How did I get here?, he asked himself.

Life just sort of ran into the back of his dream like a drunk driver into the back of a truck, bad enough to make it hard to tell where the truck stopped and the car began. It fostered a bilious uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, gurgling vacuously to itself.

It had just been a dream, right?

Of course it had, and he forced down any suggestions otherwise. He was awake now, he was in hospital, a hospital he knew well. The marks on his arm, they must have something to do with himself being there.

But, it really wasn't something to get unsettled about. It was like that first time, when that suspended tile ceiling had truly been unfamiliar, his last memory before awakening beneath it's stark whiteness had been a single, ocean green eye gazing back at him.

It was at that time he became aware he was being watched, a pair of hidden eyes crawling across his back like centipedes. Again, he shuddered, and slowly turned his gaze to his left.

Blue eyes met brown.

"Misato!" Shinji started, jumping in his bed.

The girl jumped back from him, looking at him with her head quirked, like a curious cat. It slowly dawned on Shinji that, whoever this girl was, she couldn't be his Misato.

No, she was much too young, only a few years older than himself in fact.

But she sure as hell looked like her, as much as was possible anyway. She had the same, or similar, raven black, almost purple hair, the same hazelnut eyes, even the way this girl pursed her lips was similar. Shinji would be damned if he hadn't seen Misato the exact same pastel blue pyjama's , only a little tighter and more revealing, perhaps because they were slightly too small.

The girl slowly withdrew back to the room's second bed, slipping solemnly into the covers.

Shinji's conscience crunched, his gut twisting itself in knots. He'd only said one word, and already he'd driven her away from him. It was like Touji told him, he really was hopeless with women.

"Sorry," he said with a gentle bow. "My name is Ikari Shinji."

The girl just looked at him quietly.

She said nothing.

Shinji groaned.

The girl wouldn't even answer him.

He sighed and flopped back onto his hospital bed and stared up at the ceiling. He knew the girl was still watching him, out of the corner of his vision he could still see her sitting there, regarding him with strange, curious eyes.

Maybe she's just shy, the boy theorized privately. Maybe he'd just frightened her with that first little outburst of his. Damn himself for not showing any self restraint, but still, he'd been polite and offered his name, along with an apology.

Why hadn't she returned?

He sensed maybe, that she might've wanted to say something, but for whatever reason she couldn't. The signal between brain and mouth had been interrupted somehow.

And just who was she?

She was much too old to be a new Pilot, but much too young to be working for NERV. Misato's sister perhaps? Or a cousin? Some close relation of his guardian-major at any rate. He found himself forcing himself not to look at her. He didn't want to be caught staring like a pervert.

Dear Lord, he'd probably frightened or offended her with his first outburst, he didn't want the girl to hate him entirely. If she could talk, he didn't want to first thing she would say to him to be a storm of vitriol that would make a sailor blush.

And still, she sat watching him, silent like a painted sculpture.

It was...uncomfortable.

He had to say something to fill that hungry vacuum of noise.

"What?"

Shinji kept his tone as neutral as possible, but still couldn't help but hear a slight annoyance in his voice. The child wasn't too sure if was his imagination, or his subconscious nefariously infecting his speech to reveal his true feelings.

Abruptly, she snapped her head away, forcing herself to look at some imaginary object between her kneecaps.

"Nice one Shinji," his inner voice cheered sarcastically, "You've only just gone and embarrassed her."

He had to keep talking. If he left it at 'What?', he'd just seem like a self absorbed creep.

"Can at least tell me your name?" Be polite Shinji, "I mean, if it's not to much trouble,"

The girl looked to him again, her chestnut eyes adopting a sullen hue. She cast her gaze down, not making eye contact with Shinji. He wasn't sure if he should blame her or not, but somehow, it didn't seem fair. After all, he'd introduced himself, it would only be polite for her to return the gesture. So then, why hadn't she?

The question hungered for an answer. Did she hate him? Was she shy? Could she understand what he was saying even? Or, she could be a little...'lacking' in some mental areas.

No, it wasn't any of them.

What seemed most likely, was the most simple explanation.

"She just doesn't want to talk to me," he sighed privately.

He watched her for a few minutes as she slowly dropped off into a restless sleep. His body wanted to follow her, but, each time his eyes closed, he could see that black cell, its darkness stretching out into a claustrophobic infinity.

And that noise that seemed to rise up from beneath, a hollow monotone hiss, that same ocean sound that trapped inside a seashell. Shinji knew it couldn't possibly be the same noise, yet he could still hear it. However faintly, it was still there. The more he tried to pretend it wasn't, the deeper dug between the pillows, the louder it seemed to be. It was almost coming from inside himself.

He groaned.

Fucking nightmares.

**I...I**

How pathetic.

The rat was dead, that much was plainly obvious, it's plump, lifeless body suspended by latex gloved fingers pinched around it's brown tail. The scientist glanced at her own, red tinted reflection, in glassy eyes that could no longer see her. Her brown hair was rough, and somewhat unruly, a little like the rat's she admitted privately. Her eyes were heavy, weighed down by a long sleepless night, and mild disappointment, pushed deep into her skull by invisible fingers.

The rat was dead.

"Subject B-two-one-one-seven deceased. Cause of death: deep pulmonary infection due to aspiration of E-Coli bacteria." she noted to her dictation machine.

The black box answered with a compliant click and she placed it gently on her workbench top. The rat, however, was just dropped into a danger-yellow box marked 'BioHazard'. It landed with a limp thud, before being sealed off.

In a few hours, it would be deep beneath lake Ashino, along with its other brothers and sisters, where it would sit in hermetic isolation for a few thousand years.

It was somewhat ironic, she noted to herself, that the purpose of her research, the reason the rats had been killed, was the development of something that would be 'Eternal proof of mankind's existance' as her professor had so eloquently put it. The irony of it being, mankind's legacy to eternity could well be a few dessicated rodents in sealed steel boxes instead, if she couldn't solve this final problem.

And damned if it wasn't a stupid little one too. Four years of hard slog, of late nights of grand genetic manipulations, accelerated cell mitosis, apoptosis inhibition, testing and retesting, all to be called to a halt by a matter of personal hygiene.

It seemed stupid, because it could be boiled down to such an insignificant sounding thing.

"But at least when the Earth, the Sun and the Moon are gone, a bunch of mummified labrats will remain." she remarked dryly, to whoever may have been listening. The young scientist chuckled humourlessly to herself. The joke had quickly gotten as stale as week old sake that had been left beneath a radiator.

Only her minds voice dared follow it with a biting chaser.

"Eternal testimony to my failure,"

She grunted. That left a vinegar taste in her mouth, almost as bitter as that cold coffee she'd swigged, and just as lingering. She just wished she could spit the thought out as easily as the curdled beverage.

She started a new pot of the brown elixir brewing, while waiting for a new rat. While Yui wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do with it, beyond dunking it in a tank of life support liquid and recording the results, the scientist hoped she'd think of _something_.

Otherwise, the show would be off.

No matter how many hurdles you leap over, her professor had once told her, it's always the devious little pebble you don't see that trips you up.

Especially when your eyes are focused on the finishing tape.

"_Could Doctor Ikari please come to child services. Doctor Ikari please come to child services," _a speaker in the ceiling announced.

The woman sighed.

It was then that there was a knock on the door. Standing in the doorway was a young orangesuit, with another sacrificial rodent pawing at its carry cage.

"You requested a fresh test specimen ma'am," the tech said.

"Just leave it on the desk, thank you," she answered him, her thoughts more to her own motherly duties.

The rat was left in its cage, supping at its water bottle. It was waiting to be tested, it hungered for it, to be analysed and categorised, and Yui found herself not wanting to disappoint the animal. But Shinji?

She had to see to her child, it was her duty as the boys mother. The boy wanted her, he _needed_ her.

A red hotline telephone sat teasingly on her desk.

Maybe Gen-chan could?

Before she'd even realised she'd been thinking about it the phone was already ringing in her ear. A pang of guilt stung at the back of her mind

"Ikari," her husbands cold, sepulcheral voice answered.

"Ah, Gen-chan," she chirruped. "I'm kind of busy down here," she glanced at the scratching rat, "Could you take care of Shinji for me?"

"Not right away," the man answered, his tone softening. "I apologise, but I have a meeting that can not be postponed."

"Is it _that_ important?"

"Of course it isn't," Gendou answered playfully, "But us men need our spare time to ourselves you know,"

Yui chuckled.

"Well, perhaps a walk will help me clear my head. I feel like I'm about to fall asleep here."

"Indeed, perhaps, you might take the time to catch up on your beauty sleep as well." her husbands disembodied voice suggested. "Not that you need it, of course,"

"I _do_ need it," Yui sighed, brushing her hand through her pageboy hair.

"Then I shall talk with you tonight, Yui-chan, good day."

"See you tonight,"

The line cut off with an abrupt click as the person on the other end hung up. That feeling of disconnection lingered for a moment, when she realised she hadn't actually seen her husband for nearly three days.

Then, it occurred to her that, should events come to pass as expected, she may not ever see him again.

But, this was no time to dwell on such things, right now, her child needed her. As she left, throwing her white labcoat across her back, the rat spun in circles in its cage, before gazing longingly up at her with its red eyes.

Well, she thought, he'd just have to wait for another day then, wouldn't he?

**I...I**

Gendou Ikari placed the phone under the conference table, taking a single deep breath to pull his mind back to its current task. The world of fatherhood and the world as the head of a highly secret 'research' facility were mutually exclusive. If he dared linger in the wrong one for two long, the consequences to both could be disastrous.

And, perhaps, his wife did dote on the boy a little too much.

"I trust there will be no further interruptions," the blind man seated across the table grumbled.

"Of course not Director," Ikari answered him, staring at his own reflections in the mans jet glasses.

"This matter is far to serious to be interrupted by trivial family matters Ikari."

"I understand, Director," he answered flatly.

"A major security breach in a supposed secret, _supposedly_ secure facility. I trust you are doing everything in your power to investigate this?"

"Yes, Director." Gendou intoned. "Budget constraints, and ongoing government demands for 'reconstruction aid', are affecting our ability to both perform our research according to schedule, and maintain a full security force. "

It may have been as subtle as a brick in a sock and perhaps as effective as said brick would be as an aircraft, but Ikari had to turn this around, he had to make this work for him, instead of allowing Keel Lorenz to gain a foothold. The verbal scrum had to be turned over to his side, or at least forced into touch.

"Don't push too hard Ikari. It may indeed be more convenient to us to just replace you with someone who can utilize resources in a more _efficient_ manner. One who can maintain the timetable, and maintain a capable security force."

A minor loss, a few political yards at most, but also an empty threat. Lorenz wouldn't replace him, not for the foreseeable future anyway. Quite simply, there would be nobody able to his do job. And still, on top of that, the blind man tried to turn this meeting back to the matter that _really_ interested him.

"We are investigating the breach at the moment, I will make a full report to you when I have my own answers, but, you may rest assured, that we will uncover the truth, and, _who_ was behind them."

Ikari rested himself on his laced hands, allowing himself a private smirk beneath the safety of his crossed palms. There was no question about Keel understanding just who 'who' was.

"When can I expect this report." the old man questioned

"May I speak," Akagi interrupted,

Gendou growled softly. She was too brash for delicate matters such as this. Perhaps, that may have been the reason Keel would request her presence at these meetings.

"By all means Doctor," The blind man nodded. He was glad she had spoken up, that much was obvious to all parties.

Naoko ran her hands through her hair for a moment, before glancing at the papers before her on the table.

"We expect the final results in three days, but I feel this illustrates the need for further research into my theories on bio-computing. A system, similar to the one I have previously proposed, could perform an analysis such as this in under three hours. "

Gendou answered first, with a gentle nudge under the table, while Keel seemed to be actively considering the possibility.

"I have read your previous proposal Doctor," he answered finally, "I found myself asking why the Chief had yet to approve it,"

Naoko sat back, head high, smirking at Gendou for a moment, before the mans steel blue eyes glared her down.

"It would take too long to develop the concept to it's full fruition. Development of the ABHE would be complete long before the system could be operational. By that stage, the advantage over conventional off-the-shelf technology would be negligible for the cost involved." he said, unruffled.

"I would disagree. Doctor Akagi, you may have the funds you requested for the construction of a prototype to test your concepts."

It was a direct attack at Gendou Ikari's authority, and both men knew it.

"Thank you Director." she bowed.

"Ikari, you have three days. I will expect your conclusions then."

"And you will have them," Gendou said flatly, nudging his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

A nod of Lorenz head was all the signal an aide hidden in the surrounding darkness of the conference room needed to step forward, silently gripping the handles of the old mans wheelchair, and guiding him from the room.

"Do not interrupt me again, Doctor," Gendou growled, once he was sure Keel had gone.

Though he didn't show it, inside, he was seething. That woman could almost have destroyed his careful political machinations. One incautious slip of the tongue would give Lorenz all he needed to threaten both himself, and his family, all the Director needed was a hard and fast reason to do so.

"Come on chief," Naoko jibed, "You know damn well a good scientist has to make a grab for funding any chance they get."

She was answered by a stony silence, a plan slowly beginning to form in the middle-aged mans mind.

"Is the boy awake yet?" he questioned.

His tone wasn't too different to the one a mother stone would use talking to it's misbehaving rock-child, being cold, hard and leaden with superior responsibility.

"I don't know," Akagi answered, a little wrong footed. "He's been asleep for three days now,"

"Bring the boy to me, I wish to speak with him in person." Ikari said.

"I doubt he will say much more to you than he has already said to me."

She was answered only by a glare that would've stripped the rust from the Titanic, a pair of steel blue eyes boring into her soul and making it as clear as the deep blue sea itself, that the Chief was seething with rage, and that it would be safer for her to just follow his orders, than stay where she was and argue the point.

"Fine," Akagi grunted, muttering something under her breath as she left.

Gendou Ikari rested back onto his chair, exhaling a loud, passive sigh. It wasn't Keel that was bothering him, he could be dealt with for the most part, barring any unwelcome interruptions. No, it was nothing so seemingly important or deadly, it was the apparently simpler matter of his wife, Yui and the boy.

How would he explain the appearance of this child, claiming to be their son, to his wife?

How long could he rightfully keep this a secret from her?

And, what if the boy did turn out to be Shinji? God only knew how that could be possible, but what if he was his son,_somehow?_

What then?

The man who could stare down an entire room of angry diplomats, UN councilors and research assistants was having difficulty working out how to explain a runaway child to his wife.

What was it Fuyutsuki had often said?

No matter how many hurdles you could leap over, it's always that malicious little stone you never see that will trip you up.

**I...I**

"What's taking so long?" Shinji asked nobody in particular. Well, he could probably have been asking Silent Girl, as he'd decided to call her privately until he knew her real name, but she wasn't likely to answer.

She was sleeping, it seemed.

Shinji had watched her for a few minutes, transfixed as she kicked her way through some utterly terrifying nightmare. It was during one of these nightmares that the boy had heard her make her only sound, aside from the occasional snore..

For a while, he hadn't believed it could be anything but a primeval grunt of terror, a gasp that had agitated the girls voicebox, but the more he dwelled on it, the more he realised it had sounding like _something._

There had been form to it, mutated and muffled of course, but it had the definite structure of a word, or more correctly, an attempt at a word.

_Bapa._

That's what it sounded like.

It definitely meant something, but what that something was eluded Shinji. He felt that, if he could've understood that word, he may have been able to understand a little something about Silent Girl.

Again, the boy sighed, nestling into his own sheets. He glanced at the door one more time, but it stubbornly refused to open for him.

Boredom slowly dulled his senses to the point where he felt his eyes gently drift shut.

"Wakeup Shinji!"

A piercing voice snapped him out of it, the boy jumping up in bed. Silent Girl was in her bed beside him, staring at him with a sunny smile on her face.

Maybe she wasn't so silent after all?

No, she wasn't looking at him, she wasn't looking at him at all. There was somebody behind him, towering over him. Slowly, his belly boiling with trepidation he turned to face this new person.

"You!" he shrieked, his mind freezing.

No, it wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. He was home, he was safe, and she'd followed him. That Doctor woman, the one from his nightmare was standing over him, clipboard in hand. Her burnt brown hair seemed to have curled up into a pair of devil horns.

"Nice to see you too Shinji," she remarked sourly. "I'm feeling lovely this morning,"

It just wasn't fair.

Silent Girl expectantly held a book in her hand, _Entry Exam Success._

"Not today," the devil woman told her. "I have business with young Shinji here."

Shinji blinked confusedly, his mind still demanding a reason why she was in the NERV infirmary. Could this really be real, or just some demented dream?

"What?" he stuttered, his steel blue eyes looking up pleadingly at the doctor.

"The Chief wants to speak with you in person," The doctor answered, her voice matching the scorned scowl that darkened her looks.

Bewildered, he could still only answer with a short nod, before looking down at the bright orange uniform that had been dropped on his lap. On the breast pocket was printed:

AYANAMI. S

That name again. Why had they given him Rei's surname? He had told them his own name and they had eventually accepted it, he thought. Another mystery to add to the pile then. Again, he looked at the name tag on the cardiograph, then down at the stitched lettering on the boilersuit uniform. He had to at least mention it, if only to make sure it hadn't been an error.

"Excuse me," he started with meek, gentle politeness, "But my name is not Ayanami it's..."

"It is for security reasons." Akagi cut him off, hard. "Now be quick, the Chief does not like to be kept waiting."

"Oh,"

Self consciously, Shinji looked down at the mandarin suit, then back up the the blue pyjama'd girl. Silent Girl was watching the unfolding scene intently, staring at it like a live action soap opera. An _ecchi_ smirk creased her lips.

Shinji whimpered nervously. Fortunately for him, his bed had come equipped with a privacy curtain. It didn't take too long for him to dress, and the uniform was slightly more comfortable than a hospital gown.

He was quickly led by the Doctor out of the room, into another corridor, this time brightly lit.

He also noted that the uniform he wore came with the added the benefit of being thoroughly anonymous, most of the technicians he passed were wearing the exact same thing

One thing thing that struck Shinji was how much like the Geofront this building was. Some lazy architect had obviously been recycling designs. Even the name plates seemed the same. _Cranial Nerve 300-310 Psychiatric_, a stamped bronze plate beside him read. He followed to lift five, which he knew led both to the cages below, and also up to the command levels.

The directory hung from the wall though, gave different names for both. Cage seven, where Unit 01 would usually be stored, was listed here as _Surface Cargo elevator/storage_.

Other differences, mostly petty items, slowly began to announce themselves. This building seemed seemed so anachronistic and outdated. He saw a box of fresh new floppy disks being carted to an unknown destination, a mobile phone with an extendable antenna. None of the doors even had any silver keycard readers, or automatic locks. The only security came from the occasional blue jacket MP with a steel brick-like portable card reader. Everything seemed a decade out of date, at least.

He watched a young woman jog past, a mouse-brunette wearing a concrete grey school uniform, a clutch of school books tucked under arm. She looked to be about Shinji's age, around thirteen or fourteen, a freshly blossomed flower, colourful, gentle and sweet smelling.

He followed her with his eyes right up until the moment he bumped into something soft and warm, and landed flat on his ass. There was a gasp of surprise about the moment Shinji felt the shock of the impact shoot up his spine. His visions blurred and he shook his head vigorously. Shinji looked up at the feminine silhouette standing over him.

"You should watch where you're walking, young man," she chided him in a soft, tissue paper voice. Not angry, more...correcting.

Rei? Shinji thought. The silhouette stood over him, features darkened by the bleaching bright striplight above. She certainly looked like Rei, same proportions, same hair style, even her voice was the same. Okay, not _quite_ the same, Rei's voice tending to have a more monotone quality to it, a very flat pitch, but close enough as to make no odds.

And frankly, Shinji hoped it was Rei.

Slowly, the figure came into focus. No, she wasn't Rei, This woman's hair was a burnt brown instead of Ayanami's sky blue. This woman was a scientist, wearing the same labcoat as Akagi, and Shinji knew he'd never met her before. Even still, as he picked himself up of the floor, he couldn't shake the overarching feeling that he'd met this scientist somewhere before.

It was unsettling.

And he sensed that this woman was utterly important to him, but he couldn't go any further than that. He stared for a moment, trying to place her soft, soothing features.

She could almost be...

"Where I come from, children usually apologize if they bump into an adult," the scientist stated, a gentle annoyance creeping into her tone.

Shinji cringed at his own impolite stupidity.

"Sorry," he stuttered.

Still, Shinji could see why he had been so mistaken. This woman and his Ayanami were so alike it was uncanny. Perhaps that was why she seemed so familiar to him.

"Yui-chan, I'm just taking the boy here to see the Chief," Naoko spoke hurridly. "I'll talk to you later."

"Mommy, are we going yet?" a voice pleaded.

Shinji looked behind the scientist to see a young, blue eyed boy wearing a bumblebee stripe shirt staring brightly up at him. Shinji faintly remembered having one just like it.

"Oh, of course Shinji," The scientist said warmly. "I'll buy you a nice packet of sweets on the way for being so well behaved, not like this other rude boy here."

"Yay!" the little Shinji cheered.

Shinji remembered his mother, they way she used to do things like that for him, and felt a strange bitter envy wash over him. He was jealous of the child, he was sure of it, a sinister envy simmering deep within in him.

And a biting headache

"Mommy, my head hurts," Shinji whimpered, the child grimacing.

The voice squealed in the elder child's ears, an amplifiers feedback drilling from within his skull, a piercing shriek punching hard from within his very mind, like a choir of a hundred migraines all screaming for his attention at once.

"Gah...what the?" he grunted, his legs buckling. Shinji gasped for breath as he struggled to keep himself standing, fighting to form a coherent thought.

The last time he'd felt _anything _like this...the last time he'd felt like this...the last time.. It was when... as boy...Yes, he'd been a boy...

"Mommy!" the boy shrieked. "It hurts!"

"Come along Shinji, I've got medicine at home." the scientist tugged at the boys arm. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into him all of a sudden, " she made a quick excuse, before half-dragging the crying child along the corridor.

Shinji stumbled to follow, his senses howling in anguish, before an iron grip took him by the shoulder.

"Ayanami, hurry up, we'll be late for the meeting,"

Shinji tugged against it, taking a few moments to remember that, for the time being, he had to answer to that name. He lurched over in the direction of the voice, even synapse in his skull aflame. He grimaced, grunting something unintelligeable, nothing but a guttural vocalization of pain.

And then, as quickly as it came, it ebbed away, gone in its entirety.

He looked up at the scientist, her middled aged features rattled, but still relieved.

"What happened?" The boy questioned.

She glanced at him, swallowed something in her throat, before forcing herself to look down at her clipboard. She doesn't know, Shinji realised, and she's scared because of it. He looked back down the now empty corridor, and wondered if perhaps it could have been that scientist or her child.

A sense of deja vu lingered long after the headache had left. Shinji would've sworn on his mother's grave he'd seen the pair before, but he still couldn't place their faces. They were shadows in his mind, and the same a shadow is made conspicuous by the absence of light, these people were obvious by an absence of memory.

Shinji knew that he knew them. And the more he thought about it, the more sure was sure of that. They were silhouetted against the background of his memory, and like a silhouette, they just seemed to just filter through his mental fingers each time he tried to grasp at it.

The building, the people, Silent Girl, all that he had seen of whatever place he was in seemed just as vaguely familiar. He found himself coming to, what, for most other people anyway, would be a rather strange conclusion. But given his recent past, and his experiences with the Evangelion, he wasn't quite so sure.

It occurred to him that maybe all of these people around him, all that he was experiencing might just be a strange construct of his mind, or the EVA's.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Or maybe, _this_ could be the real world, and everything he thought had been his life had been the illusion. Perhaps, Shinji Ikari didn't exist at all, at least, Shinji Ikari as he was himself.

He stopped himself before his thoughts could get too far down that road. He'd just end up chasing his own tale with that one.

One thing though, that he recognised immediately, was the set of double doors he found himself standing outside. They were the doors to the Commanders Office, his father's office. There was no way he'd ever forget _th__e__se_ doors.

Akagi lent forward and pushed a small red button beside the door, just beneath the grill of a speaker.

"I have the child here," she said to it.

"Very well. Bring him in," it answered in a cool, transistorized tinny voice.

The steel doors buzzed and the Doctor pushed them open, a rush of cold air chilling Shinji's body. A sudden nervousness clenched his chest and he hesitated for a moment before following Naoko in.

It was his father's office. It may have been brightly lit by bay windows along the walls, and it may have lacked the silver tracework, but it was still the same room. It still had that same cheap flatpack desk, and that man sitting behind it sat in the exact same pose his father did.

He wore the same white lab jacket that seemed uniform around here and the glasses were a little larger, but, that man could almost have been his father.

"So, you are the boy who claims to be my son,"

Shinji blinked.

No.

That couldn't be right.

He hadn't claimed to be this man's son he had...he was...

Oh.

It struck him like a bullet train.

"Um..father?" he mumbled, his jaw hanging half open.

But how?

"How can that be true, when my son is only three years old?"

Three years old...but...

Shinji glanced up at the Doctor, then down at his booted feet. His own hand clenched and released, a nervous compulsion that timed out his quickening heartbeat. His gaze darted back and forward, between the scientist, the doorway, his father, and his own feet, his eyes racing to keep up with his thoughts..

"And when, just ten minutes ago, my wife picked him up from childcare and took him home?"

Shinji gulped, then looked back at the door behind him. He was looking for that mother and child, the ones he'd passed. Maybe, it occurred to him, maybe the reason they had seemed so familiar...

It seemed utterly impossible, and yet, totally correct. That woman, that scientist, could have been his mother.

Yes, that was it. She was Yui Ikari. He knew, he knew for sure. That was why she'd been so familiar. It didn't seem possible, but deep down in the very core of his being he knew it was true.

But then how?

She had been dead for ten years. An accident, of some sort.

Yet, he'd bumped right into her. And damned if he hadn't been such an idiot too. He cursed himself momentarily for not being able to see it when it mattered, but it was too late to worry about that now.

But how? His mind begged once more.

A strange question came to mind, one that seemed absolutely insane, but still, one that could provide him with an answer once and for all. It was a question no normal person would have to ask, the answer being usually as plain as the nose on his face, but still.

If he was right, it would explain a great many things.

If he was wrong?

Then, they would just think him that little bit crazier. That wouldn't make a difference at this stage,

"We are running a DNA analysis, and will have the results soon. But, it would be best for you if you just admitted who you are, and why you came here. We might even be able to help you."

He steeled himself as best he could. Even so the words caught in the boy's throat. But still, he had to ask, he had to know for sure.

"What..." he stuttered, clenching his hands into fists. "What year is it?"

**I...I**

Well... it doesn't suck, does it?

If you do like it, perhaps you should check out my other stuff. Most of it's still going, in some form or another.

Also, for fannish discussion and a decent communtiy drop by at:

evamade(dot)net  
darkscribes(dot)org.

Until Number 3  
-Dartz


	3. Deja Vu

"Gen-chan," Yui cooed, snuggling up against her husband, rustling the heavy duvet with her feet. "It's been some time."

"It has," Gendou answered flatly.

"But I'm content, just to be with you. This is comfortable as it is."

"It is," Gendou said.

She was so warm. She was so comfortable. He could just lay there and be comfortable...be comfortable... not thinking about the boy. He could forget about these troubles and just lie there in his matrimonial bed...

Comfortable.

"Is something wrong Gen-chan. You're a bit _stiffer_ than usual."

He gulped, and squirmed. How could they always tell?

"It is nothing," he tried dismissively, though, even he could hear the awkward edge his voice had taken.

"What is it?" Yui pushed, her tone teasing.

"It is nothing," Gendou answered playfully. "Just work stress,"

He hoped that would be enough.

"Fine, keep your secrets. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were having an affair with that Naoko woman,"

The elder Ikari blushed somewhat. It would only be natural for her to get that impression, wouldn't it, with the amount of time he spent with that Doctor? It was...unsettling, that his wife could think him unfaithful. Gendou tried to quantify just what he was feeling, but found he really couldn't get passed unsettled, and maybe, somewhat offended by the suggestion that he had been less than honourable.

"I am not," he answered gruffly.

"I was only teasing," Yui swatted him.

"I don't like it," Gendou snorted.

"Because you always fall for it?" she jibed.

There was a pause, while the man considered his answer.

"Yes," he stated.

Yui chuckled heartily, her laugh having a warm, melodious edge to it, sweet music ringing in Gendou's ears. It teased a soft smile from his lips. This was indeed a man's paradise.

"So then, if it's not another woman, what is the problem?" Yui probed once more.

"Just work," he sighed once more. "It's nothing to worry about Yui,"

Of course, he grimaced internally, he'd only just gone and proved to her that

"Fine then, keep your secrets," she huffed, pushing hard off his body, "Though, something weird did happen to myself and Shinji today. It was really strange too..."

Again, Gendou swallowed, a knot of fear clenching in his stomach. Perhaps, she already knew, and was testing his loyalty towards her? Should he then come clean and admit the truth? Could she be manipulating him again, in that manner unique to her and her species? People always said that he was the manipulator in the couple, but Gendou himself knew better. He himself could stare down gods and men and not flinch, but women, that was a different story.

Perhaps, a nudge for more information would help.

"Oh, how so?"

"Well," Yui shuffled, "I picked him up from the creche early today. He was only crying for me, which isn't unusual, so I thought nothing of it. But, when I was walking him home, I bumped into this rather rude boy in the corridor, with Naoko. The strange thing about it, was the way little Shinji reacted to him,"

Gendou gulped, his gut wrapping a noose around his stomach, She'd met the boy. God help me, she'd met the boy. Change the subject, fast!

"You molly coddle him to much, Yui," he stated, trying to hide the shaking in his voice. "If you run to Shinji every time he cries then he will never learn to live without you."

Yui frowned.

"I'm his mother, it's my job to molly coddle him, especially since he's only three. And you're not changing the subject so easily, husband," she chided. "I know you're hiding something, I can read you like a book,"

For a moment, he thanked God Keel didn't have Yui's mind, or her looks for that matter. Gendou knew that would've made his job impossible. He sighed, he had to evade, at all costs.

"This boy, I cannot talk about him now, it is..." Gendou swallowed, searching for a way to explain it that wasn't a lie. He couldn't lie to Yui "...complicated. He was found inside a restricted part of the lab, that's all I am certain about,"

"I see," said Yui , turning onto her back, pulling away from her husband.

A spark of chilled abandonment ran up Gendou's side as she did so.

"I promise Yui, that when I know more about him for certain, I will discuss it with you. That is all I can do,"

Silence.

A single tense heartbeat stretched into an eternity of anguish. It was much the same feeling as that time he'd proposed, that same terror of rejection, of being expelled from his paradise.

"That boy," said Yui after a few moments consideration. "He does have your eyes. Is he a secret love-child you had with Naoko, before we met?"

"What?" Gendou blurted, his voice ringing back sharp of the ceiling above.

Another alto chuckle served to inform him that he'd taken the bait again, as always. Yui snuggled back up to him, her breath gently tickling his ear.

"You know I don't like being teased about things like that," he stated.

"I know," answered Yui, "But you go so ballistic, sometimes it can be hard to resist."

Love, Gendou thought, it is a strange thing. Comfortable, but strange. Four years before, it had seemed like such a frivolous and unnecessary thing, something that did more harm than good, yet now, he couldn't imagine life without Yui and their son even being possible anymore.

Their son.

That brought his mind back to something very uncomfortable. That boy, that other Shinji, was the broken spring poking through his mattress.

**I...I**

**Grandfather:**

Chapter 3: Deja Vu.

I don't own this, somebody else does.  
Stuff might be mentioned that's copyright.  
I don't own it either  
It's just a bit of fun anyway

**I...I**

"We are running a DNA analysis, and will have the results soon. But, it would be best for you if you just admitted who you are, and why you came here. We might even be able to help you?"

The words caught in Shinji's throat, but he had to ask, he had to know for sure.

"What..." he stuttered, clenching his hands into fists. "What year is it?"

The response he received, was pretty much the response he had expected. His father, and the Doctor looked at each other for a moment, seeming to Shinji as if they were both about to burst out laughing at the stupidity of the question.

"What does that have to do with anything?" the elder Ikari answered, his voice hard.

_'if you won't do it, then just go home_,'

Those words echoed in Shinji's mind, a memory of his first time Piloting that machine that surfaced each time he heard his father's voice.

"It is..." he stuttered "I think..."There's no way to say it, no way to get this out without sounding like a lunatic. "I was born in..." no, that was even stupider. "Last time..."

Shinji gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Don't waste my time, or I may place you back in that cell, until you decide to be more cooperative."

Damn it. He didn't want to go back there. Any answer was better than going back there.

"I'm from the future!" he shouted, forcing the words out almost as if loudness were equal to truthfulness.

"Do you take us for fools? I have little patience for childish pranks such as this,"

"But...but it's true" the boy stammered, sweat running in rivers across his brow.

Silence

He watched Akagi lean towards his father, and whisper a quick something into his ear. A reminder of something perhaps? Shinji would've given his life to hear what.

"Very well, I'll humour you for a moment. Let's say you really are my son, then you would be able to answer a question only my son would know the answer to."

It wasn't a question, or even an offer, but Shinji still nodded. It seemed as if it could be the perfect way out, a way to prove himself.

"If you are Shinji, then perhaps you could tell me. What gift did I give to you for your third birthday?"

Shinji's hope collapsed.

He stared open mouthed for a moment, his mind frozen Of all the things he could've been asked, it had to be something he couldn't answer. How stupid was that? How stupid was he for not being able to remember.

"Time is limited,"

The prospect of that dark jail cell becoming his home for the next few weeks loomed large in his mind. That black nothingness haunted his memory, threatening to swallow him, his hopes and his dreams for an eternity.

Then, a single spark of light flared against the dark.

Nothing.

That's it!

"You gave me nothing," Shinji stated, a clear picture of that day forming in his mind. "Mother was with me, she gave me a Gunbuster that year. We had a party, and, you were supposed to be there, but you called earlier in the day, and apologised for not being able to make it."

Gendou remained impassive for a moment, before casting his eyes down to his hands. There was no doubting that would be a strange thing for a spy to know. The silence that followed, terrified Shinji. The boy glanced at the heavy doors behind him, expecting any moment that a swarm of armed guards would come running through them, to drag him back to that oubliette. There was another exchange, between his father and the Doctor, discussing possibilities, the boy guessed. Akagi believed him, well, he hoped she did. He hoped she was making some sort of statement on his behalf.

Shinji made a mental note to thank her later, regardless.

Shivering, he waited for what seemed like an hour for his father to speak again, though it must've only been a few shallow heartbeats.

"Very well," the elder Ikari said, his tone as cold as it had been a few moments previously. He was giving nothing away. The guards though, weren't coming yet.

"Shinji," Naoko chimed in. "Perhaps you should tell the chief everything you told me, about the Evangelions, the Angels, everything you know. Start with your Mother's death and work forward from there."

Gendou Ikari stiffened, fidgeting slightly in his chair.

The boy nodded, feeling an uncomfortable twinge as he cast his thoughts back to some things he didn't want to remember, of that old man's shadow cast across the platform as he walked away, Shinji's uncle resting a heavy hand on the boys shoulder while he cried. He could never remember his mother's death, because frankly, he'd never wanted too.

Gendou's voice looming over him and saying that he would have to grow up early and learn to live on his own was the child's only memory of that day.

The young Ikari told his father as much. He told the man that he had learned to live on his own. Shinji'd learned to cook, to clean, to manage a household like an adult. His uncle had been impressed with him, that he was so mature and responsible. Shinji never gave a second thought to it, after all, it was what Gendou had told him to do.

Maybe his father might even have decided to take him back once he'd learned how to cook a soup from scratch.

He told Gendou as much.

Fat chance though. By age ten, he could cook almost as good as his uncle, if not better. It brought a smile the boys face to be almost bragging to his father about the fact.

A nudge from Naoko jumped him forward a few years, to the boy's first day in Tokyo-3. Shinji described Unit 01 and the Third Angel in brain scouring detail, dredging up a hundred little thoughts, feelings and memories he'd hoped would have stayed buried.

He described the lash whipping Fourth and the fortress-like fifth. His description of Rei was the only thing that drew any humms of interest from the old man behind the desk.

Next of course, came Asuka, or Kyoko's child as Naoko called her, and the sixth Angel at sea. The twins that made up the seventh and next the volcanic eighth. That one had left the boy with a nasty skin rash. The spider-legged ninth had been easy, relatively, as had been the tenth.

Gendou had finally praised him for that one, and Misato too. After the eleventh had been deleted from the system, he'd finally begun to feel like he belonged. He'd visited his mother's gravesite with his father, first-kissed Asuka...and locked up frozen like an idiot too. He was in a good place, comfortable and happy, and then_ this_ happened. Just when he thought he'd found his happiness, something would come and snatch it away.

It seemed to be the pattern of his life so far, didn't it?

As if he had no right to be happy.

"I see," was all his father had said when he finished, in that horribly cool voice of his. All Shinji wanted to know was whether he'd be spending the rest of his life. That knot in the boys gut twisted tighter.

"Some guards will take you back to your ward," Gendou stated after an eternal minute.

Shinji's shoulders dropped with relief, a weight of worry dropping with them. He was safe, for the time being. He could go back to the ward with Silent Girl now. It mightn't have been home, but it was better than the alternative.

Gendou watched silently as two guards led him away. They were gentle with the boy, not really guards, more escorts this time. The two young enlisted men weren't even carrying weapons, just wearing black anonymous suits and sunglasses.

The door opened, and the boy slipped wordlessly through, his head held low. The door closed with a subdued brass tick, leaving Gendou and Naoko alone. The man took his glasses off for a moment, sighing loudly as he rubbed gloved hands against his tired eyes. Slowly, he picked his glasses up, and slipped back into his mask.

"So, you believe him too," Naoko said.

Gendou though for a moment. This was insane. This was impossible. And yet, he found himself compelled by some strange will deep inside him to believe the boy, to believe the child was his own flesh and blood.

This wasn't right. This had to be a deception. The boy had to be a clone, or something like that. Yui had written her thesis on human cloning. It was public information. But artificial ageing. Yes! Just like the ABHE. And who could do that? Nobody but his own staff, or Keel Lorenz. It had to be him. Another plot, another scheme, another spy.

Logically, it was the easiest conclusion. And it had the beauty of being possible.

Yet, gut instinct nagged at him. A father's instinct to know his own son perhaps?

"The genetic tests will confirm it," he said.

"So you are beginning to believe after all?" Naoko chimed in. "You did say 'confirm', didn't you? That would mean you have a belief to confirm,"

Another pause.

"It flies against all known physical principals, but it...is possible."

Those words seemed dirty, almost as if he was naked speaking them.

""Not _all_ scientific principle's. Time travel was shown to be theoretically possible, under an extension of Einstein's laws, but only backwards. I have been doing some reading up on this matter, naturally."

"Yes, naturally," Gendou nodded slightly. "But..."

"What?" Naoko probed. She was enjoying seeing Gendou worried alright.

"Causality," was all he said, before another moments pause. "I will be spending tonight at home with my wife and son. If you see the Professor, please convey my regrets that I will miss our usual game. And prepare a set of false identification papers for the boy for the time being."

Naoko scowled for a moment, a jealous flash of anger heating her body for a second. Leaving her to do his own donkey work as usual while he spent time with _that_ woman. How was she any better to herself? What had she done that was so special anyway? A few half baked theories on cloning, maybe dabbling in some accelerate cellular mitosis? Yui, you'd swear she was a God herself the way Gendou spoke of her. Of course, _she_ wasn't the one who designed the greatest revolution in computing since complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors had she? She hadn't handwritten protein simulation algorithms in bare machine code? Hell, she probably wasn't even all the special in bed. So what made her better than me? Naoko wondered sourly.

Gendou stood up calmly, and fixed his creased white jacket.

"Good night, Doctor." he said, not even acknowledging the doctors unasked question.

Akagi watched him leave, her hot scowl slowly transfiguring into a vulpine smirk. Perhaps, there may be a way to prove herself better than that woman after all. If the boy was from the future, and he was to be the future pilot of the ABHE...

Perhaps, there might be a way for her to use the boy's knowledge to her advantage to finally show up _that_ woman, once and for all.

"Good night, chief," she said as the office door closed.

**I...I**

Silent girl seemed to be waiting for Shinji, the purple haired teenager looked right at him when he arrived. She smiled a welcome home, before returning to her study books.

A set of pyjamas had been laid out for Shinji on his bed, but he didn't want to put them on with Silent Girl watching him. Instead, the boy just flopped back weightily onto the hospital bed, the springs squeaking under his weight.

He closed his eyes, thankful that he got to spend the night on a soft bed, instead of that cell. The sheer impossibility of his situation didn't really bother him. Impossible situations were almost a fact of life for the boy. It was a familiarity with the weirdness brought on by six months of sharing his mind with a thirty story machine.

He still wasn't completely sure this wasn't the doing of that machine...somehow.

Going back in time seemed almost normal. Strangely strange, yet oddly normal. Even though he picked that phrase from an old motorcycle review in one of Misato's well-thumbed _Autoroad_ magazine's he'd borrowed once when he'd had the flu, it seemed to perfectly fit his situation.

And that woman, in the corridor, who looked so much like Rei. Mother, he was sure of it. Live and breathing. He found his thoughts drifting back to her, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. Mother, she died when he was three.

August 27th, 2004.

He still didn't want to remember the day. It was there, a looming dark spot in his memory hoving ever closer. The more his thoughts dwelled on it, the closer it came. A terrifying shadow of thought that threatened to consume him entirely if he allowed it to.

No! He forced it back, diverting his thoughts to an easier, happier path. That night, just before the day, when his mother took him home from work with her. She cooked such a wonderful meal, even baking a cake for him to apologise. Even his father came home that night, the man seeming so warm and alive in his memory. He'd actually smiled back then.

Maybe, with his mother still alive here, when, wherever he was, he thought, he might be able to go back to something like that day. That apartment in old Hakone with the warped wooden floors. He still remembered how it had always smelled of fish and detergent, how there was always some splash of disarrayed papers on the kitchen table beneath a cold coffee-cup paperweight.

But, would they let him talk to her now even? Doctor Akagi seemed so quick to hurry him along away from her. Not a moment too soon, if he was honest. That headache, it had felt like his head had been about to burst like an overinflated tyre.

Such a bad headache, he could only remember one like it once before, when he was a boy, with his Mother. There was this other, bigger kid there, in an orange jacket...or something, with one of his Mother's work friends.

Thinking about it, about that child who had been with his mother...

There was only one person he could have been.

Himself.

A younger Shinji Ikari.

It seemed almost ridiculous to him, that he could remember meeting himself, and himself at the same time ten years ago. A strange drunken chuckle rose in his throat, staggering it's way across his tongue. Hello Shinji, I'm Shinji.

What would he tell himself if he met himself again? When your father abandons you, kick him in the nuts, maybe?

Another chuckle escaped.

It was the stuff of headaches, of DeLoreans and flux capacitators, of bad Star Trek episodes and cheap manga. But, it fit the facts. He was in, what to him, was the past. It could still be some maddening dream, or trick of that mental kind the Evangelion loved to play, but that seemed less likely with every passing minute.

This was as real as the bed resting against his back, as the draft of cold air against his skin, and the hot breath blowing against his face.

What?

The boy's eyes shot open with a gulping gasp of breath. Blue eyes met with hazel brown, barely a few inches away from each other. That face, Silent Girl, staring at him with penetrating curiosity. Supported by her hands on the bed, leaning over his side, her breasts brushed against his shoulder.

Shinji's eyes drifted down, past her small, tightly closed lips, down her thin neck, and over her collarbone, down into that dark valley between her breasts. Silent girl scowled, and Shinji blushed. Then she grinned that foxish grin of hers, one Shinji swore he'd seen before. She cuddled herself in a familiar fashion, apparently enjoying his embarrassed reaction.

"Sorry," Shinji muttered. Bewildered and red-faced, it seemed the logical thing to do.

Silent Girl just smiled.

She was teasing him. She was actually teasing him. Definitely some relative of Misato's then. Shinji sighed, feeling a strange release as he stared up at that familiar ceiling.

Back in time.

At least there'd be a long wait until the next Angel attacked, or until the next sync test. He had a school assignment due in two days, and he hadn't even started it. Oh well, now he had ten whole years to do it. Wouldn't that be funny, one day going to school aged fourteen, the next being twenty-four. At least, that's what everyone else would see. He'd most likely married by that age. And that's not even considering what Asuka's reaction when they next met...

Shinji sighed.

Asuka. The ward suddenly seemed uncomfortably quiet. The hurried shuffling of Silent Girl as she searched for something couldn't compare with the brash and loud Caucasian. She wore her American gene's with pride alright. And her butt-tight cut-off jeans too. She was always berating him for something, usually something silly, or telling him what to do. She was...not quite _Tsundare_... more...what did Westerners call it?... A bitch? Not a massive bitch mind, not in the Hollywood sense, more in the 'pecking and biting at every little thing he did that didn't meet her own high standards' sense.

Yet strangely, Shinji felt himself missing that pecking and biting. It felt uncomfortably quiet without her. It wasn't that Asuka was a hypocritical sort of bitch. It was more that she insisted other people meet her own standards for herself, and got annoyed when they couldn't.

He kind of enjoyed it in a strange, masochistic sort of way. It meant that if she ever praised him, she really meant it. There was only really the once, that time she'd walked in on him playing his cello, but it felt so much better to hear her say she respected him that little bit more than the hollow praise from his classmates he would be inundated with after every Angel battle.

It'd be some time before he saw her again.

The shuffling stopped, and Shinji rolled his head right. Silent Girl appeared from under her own bed, holding a black remote control.

She smiled a triumphant smile, launching herself backwards onto her own bed. The springs squeaked under her weight, herself bouncing up as Shinji watched her breasts continue down. Don't get caught! his mind warned.

Or else Silent Girls first word be 'Pervert!' in a loud, screeching siren voice.

Like Asuka usually. Even if Asuka was always getting _Hentai _and _Ecchi _mixed up.

The black television in the corner popped into life, the picture fizzing a bit before coming into focus. A news station, discussion some new construction project in Hakone.

Silent Girl changed the channel.

Kujibiki Unbalance.

Silent Girl scowled and changed the channel.

Some rally race along some dirty wet roads.

Silent girl smiled and settled in, turning the volume up and letting the sound of unsilenced exhaust fill the room. Misato does the exact same thing, Shinji thought. As an old Corrolla GT slid around a hairpin turn, Silent Girl silently cheering it on, Shinji suddenly felt that little bit lonelier and more homesick.

**I...I**

A plan was forming in Naoko's mind as she slipped into her office. Waiting for her in a cardboard box on her desk, beside a picture of her daughter and an idling laptop computer, was that wetsuit the boy had been wearing when he'd been found.

It was still coated it dried and flaking connect liquid.

A black phone was placed on a shelf, alongside a sheaf of programmer's journals and notes. Pulling the suit from it's box with one hand, Naoko inspected it for a moment, a sinister grin forming across her lips.

The boy had been found wearing this suit. According to the boys own words, he wore the very same suit when he piloted the ABHE. The suit had to serve some function, beyond being a simple biometric monitor. Yui was having that infection problem with the connect liquid.

It seemed only logical. A skintight suit that sealed the dirty parts of the body away from the connect liquid. What else could it be for?

Well, Yui wouldn't get the chance to invent it. Naoko would show who was the smartest one, she would beat her to the punch and solve her problem for her. She would show the Chief just how much she herself was worth.

All she had to do was dial Yui's home phone and tell her.

The phone rang, a giddy ecitement building in the old woman's breast. Well, she wasn't _that_ old, only about forty years old. And she'd still kept her looks too.

"Hello, Ikari residence" That woman answered. So cheerfully too. Lets she what she looks like at this age. How cheerful she will be when her husband loses interest for someone younger and leaves her holding the baby.

"Oh Hi, Yui," Naoko forced herself to be pleasant and cheerful. "It's myself, Akagi from GEHIRN."

"Yes? It's a bit strange for you to call me at home, Is it important?"

"It may be," said Naoko. Of course it bloody well was. "It's just I was thinking about your problem, with the rats infecting themselves, and I think I may have had a brainwave..."

That moments silence was one of the sweetest in Naoko's life. Gendou Ikari would notice her now, for sure.

**I...I**

Two things:

1: I start full time employment in about eight to ten hours, so it's unlikely I'll be able to do too much for the next six months or so. Hell, I'm surprised I even got this stuff done.

2: I guess I could concatenate this with the previous chapter. It'd probably work better. But I'd also never get it done. Just look at my Battlestar Evangelion fic... two nice juicy long descriptive chapters... if a bit dry, and half of an equally long third on my Harddrive I'm still working on. Even after a year.

If there's enough demand, I'll post the half I have.

3: This is still surprisingly popular. I've been PM'd for updates, which is something that's never happened before.

4: Don't be afraid to keep reviewing either..

6: Or to go to evamade(dot)net or evafics(dot)org for a bit of reading/chat.

5: I need a pint before I go to work tomorrow. And perhaps a liquid lunch and dinner.

'Til next one then...  
--Dartz


End file.
